HB Grandi: Akranes factory on standby

Staff at HB Grandi's Akranes factory are waiting for this season's pearlside fishery to now that two of the company vessels are searching for fish from the Skerja Deeps to grounds east of the Westmann Islands. Staff have been preparing the factory, which has not processed any fish since July, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to HB Grandi.

‘Everything is ready and we're just waiting for landings,' said factory manager Gudmundur Hannesson earlier today. He said that Faxi RE and Lundey NS are now east of the Westmann Islands after only small catches were taken west of the islands. Faxi has 80 tonnes on board after two hauls in the Grindavík Deeps.

‘We have processed around 30,000 tonnes of fish so far this year. First there was pearlside, then capelin and blue whiting, and in the summer we took the mackerel that the fresher trawlers were catching. Now we're hoping for some pearlside and for a decent increase in the capelin quota for this season,' Gudmundur Hannesson said, adding that since the summer, the opportunity has been taken to overhaul a lot of the factory equipment.

The factory at Akranes has a staff of twelve who work two shifts when production in underway.